How Nigeria lost $2b to gas flaring last year – Gowon

Nigeria flayed over $2 billion worth of gas last year, former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has said.
Gen. Gowon spoke on Wednesday in Finima, Bonny Island, Rivers State.
The former Head of State, who was on a visit to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Plant on the Island, said the country would have more money for development projects by ending gas flaring.
He said the country has to ensure that steps were fast-tracked to complete the NLNG Train Seven and other LNG projects to end gas flaring.
He said countries such as Qatar have taken over the leadership of the LNG market from NLNG, which used to be the fastest growing in the world.
He said: “Think of how much cash, sorry gas, we burnt between when we found oil in 1957 and when Nigeria LNG was able to start monetising our gas resources in 1999. Last year, this country flared over 460 billion standard cubic feet of gas that, if processed and exported, would have fetched the country over $2 billion and minimised the health and environmental impact of gas flares.
“Think of how oil palm industry left Nigeria for Malaysia. Think of how athletics – we won Gold at the Sydney Olympics 12 years ago – left Nigeria to Jamaica. And the worst of all, countries we started out with in the LNG business have all left us behind.”
Gen. Gowon lamented the country’s loss of the leadership of the LNG market.
“Nigeria LNG Limited used to be the fastest growing LNG plant in the world. But for the past five years, a country like Qatar has moved from 20 to 80 million tonnes range, whilst a country like Australia has made final investment decision to build LNG projects up to 80 million tonnes. I now understand that Mozambique and Tanzania will soon be joining the gas producers with the export of LNG,” he stated.
He urged the Federal Government to ensure all the LNG projects were completed.
The former Head of State said: “All the LNG projects on the drawing board in Nigeria (NLNG Train Seven, Brass LNG, OKLNG) will add about 30million tonnes of LNG to our national output, which is not that much when we compare with Australia, which has only 60 per cent of our reserves but effectively generates much higher domestic electricity and will soon be exporting much more LNG than all the LNG companies in Nigeria combined.”
He warned of the consequence of not acting on time.
“So, I am still not completely fulfilled that we haven’t reached our destination in that journey we started so long ago. I am worried that history is about to repeat itself as other players (including the United States, a previous importer now a net exporter) will get to the global market ahead of us and it may be another 30-50 years lost. I will not like to see another great opportunity lost due to our lethargy.
We can’t afford to sit on the fence any longer,” Gen. Gowon noted.